Pretty Hate (New Adult Novel) by Ava Ayers Read Free Book Online

while everyone clapped and told me I looked beautiful. And, I kind of felt it.
    “Tell me it’s going to be okay,” I said to Rebel Love as she handed me her car keys. “Tell me this guy is not going to fuck me over.”
    “I can’t do that, honey. But I can say, if this guy does fuck you over, he’s as clueless as the others.”
    Ivory-Lou walked me to the car to show me the key system.
    “Now, you have a full tank in there. You know where you’re going?”
    “Uh, yeah.”
    “No joyriding drunk,” he said as he waved at one of the neighbors who jogged by.
    “Do you think the neighbors wonder why you’re always in bright silk robes and slippers in the afternoon?” I said and laughed.
    “I don’t give a good goddamn what they think! I pay my taxes in this rich-ass neighborhood. Probably more taxes than they do! Now, you got any protection?”
    “Jesus, Ivory-Lou, I don’t know if we’re gonna have sex tonight!”
    “Weapons, chickenhead,” he said and smacked me in the arm with the newspaper. “Weapons...mace, brass knuckles, knife?”
    “This guy reads Camus.”
    “I don’t care what he reads. Remember that take-down move I showed you?”
    “Yep, palm to nose, hit up.”
    “Yeah, good. And kick out the knee.”
    “Yes, the knee. Okay, I’m gonna go now.”
    I got in the car and smiled as I watched Ivory-Lou watch me until I left the driveway.
    When I got to the pub, I spotted Nicolas sitting on a bench looking at his phone. I stood behind a tree and watched him for a minute as I tried to calm down. But the more I looked at him, the more nervous I became. Finally, I unhitched my fingers from the tree and walked up to the bench.
    I stood in front of him and he looked up from his phone and inhaled.
    “Beth,” he said and smiled.
    “Hi, have you been waiting long?”
    “I was early,” he said. “I timed my drive with Brooklyn traffic in mind.”
    “So, yeah, Brooklyn...I want to hear all about it.”
    “Do you want to go in?” he said as he stood from the bench.
    He walked toward me and put his hands on my wrists. They were smooth and warm and strong.
    “You look beautiful,” he said and kissed my cheek. “Thank you for meeting me.”
    I dug my nails into my palms to keep from grabbing him.
    He took my hand and led me into the pub. The hostess seemed like she was flirting with him. I suddenly felt fat.
    We sat across from one another and I stared at the menu. I was scared that I was going to get carded. I looked up at him and he stared at me over his menu. I wondered if I had something on my face.
    “Your eyes are so blue,” he said, “they’re almost black. Do you know what you want? Are you hungry?”
    “No. Just beer.”
    “Oh,” he said as he smiled, “okay. Just beer it is, then.”
    “I mean a beer, not like a whole bucket. I’ll probably have more than one, um, they serve buckets here, but I always thought that was horrid, you know? A trough of beer? Um, just a beer.”
    He laughed and looked down at his hands.
    “I’m sorry,” I said and took a deep breath, “I’m nervous.”
    “It’s okay. I am too.”
    Nicolas ordered two beers and took his jacket off. He wore a black t-shirt that had the picture of a band I never heard of on the front. He worked out. He didn’t have crazy, meathead muscles, but he was tight.
    “Do you like it here?” he said.
    “It’s not a bad place. Not like the usual redneck bars.”
    “No, I mean West Virginia,” he said as the waitress came over.
    She put the beers on the table and I do believe she flirted with him as well.
    “Oh,” I said when she left, “no. I don’t like it here much at all.”
    “Why not? It’s beautiful. So much to see.”
    He took a sip of his beer and licked his lips. His tongue was red like he sucked on a cherry Popsicle before he came. Merry-Bell always says you can tell a lot about a man by inspecting his tongue.
    “I grew up here,” I said, “so, I guess when you grow up in a place, you only ever